(The Center Square) – A foreign national living in Salt Lake County has been charged with possessing over 12,000 blue M30 pills containing fentanyl with the intent to distribute by a federal grand jury.
Oscar Noe Cota-Galaviz, 38 of West Jordan, Utah, allegedly had about 12,000 fentanyl pills, according to a release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah.
Last month, a search warrant executed at his residence found about 10,000 blue “M30” pills containing fentanyl hidden inside a mattress. Agents also found about 1,000 blue pills containing fentanyl wrapped in a container in his pants pocket that he claimed were vitamins. Plus, they found 1,500 blue “M30” pills containing fentanyl in a charcoal bag inside a storage unit belonging to the main.
Cota-Galaviz has previously been removed from the country for illegal immigration. Therefore, he faces charges of possessing fentanyl with intent to distribute and illegal reentry.
Cota-Galaviz made his initial court appearance on October 5, 2023, before a U.S. Magistrate Judge at the Orrin G. Hatch United States District Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City.
The charges come at a time when illegal immigration is at a record high in the United States. At least 255,212 foreign nations illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in September 2023 alone, as The Center Square has previously reported.
Special Assistant United States Attorney Kelsy B. Young for the District of Utah is prosecuting the case against Cota-Galaviz while the Drug Enforcement Administration is investigating it.
